Should voting be mandatory?

[Franzl]

Yes. It's shameful to see people abdicating their power to decide for their country's destiny.

so naturally your answer is to make People do what YOU think they should....wonderful.

Yes, I think voting is a duty when you have the chance to live in a country with universal suffrage.

But why? Do you want voters to make uninformed decisions. Having a right means you should be able to refuse to use it....just as Freedom of religion must also be Freedom FROM religion if desired.

[minionofmidas]

But why? Do you want voters to make uninformed decisions.

Because they don't do so now?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Nobody is intending to take away the right to cast an invalid ballot. The debate is merely about putting the same opportunity cost on all legitimate choices. Try again.

[Franzl]

Why on Earth should you force someone to go to a polling place that has no interest in doing so?

I understand You're upset about the low turnout leading to the Socialists losing last year, but you need  to give voters a REASON to feel motivated to vote for you....and Not just hope they'll do so by forcing them to do something they don't want to do.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Yes. That way people won't be able to complain about what their govt. does. And Australia and some other countries actually have compulsory voting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting

They won't?  LOL.

[John Dibble]

No. It would do more harm than good. If someone isn't interested enough to vote in the first place, then they are most likely not educated on the candidates and the issues. People who vote just because they are forced to would either just vote on party lines, at random, or just based on some stupid rumor they heard from their neighbor or something. Nothing would be improved by this, so why waste people's time?

[minionofmidas]

I understand You're upset about the low turnout leading to the Socialists losing last year, but you need  to give voters a REASON to feel motivated to vote for you.

Oh, quite. Been saying that for ages. "At least we're not the CDU" just doesn't cut it if the SPD wants to be successful again.

Why on Earth should you force someone to go to a polling place that has no interest in doing so?

To even out opportunity costs and thus give some validity to your comparison with freedom of religion, mostly.

No. It would do more harm than good. If someone isn't interested enough to vote in the first place, then they are most likely not educated on the candidates and the issues. People who vote just because they are forced to would either just vote on party lines, at random, or just based on some stupid rumor they heard from their neighbor or something. Nothing would be improved by this, so why waste people's time?

Lots of people who do vote to the exact same thing, so, again, hardly a valid argument. Always have, too. Now that is certainly something people have a right to do.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

As I wrote on tuther thread...

I've become increasingly convinced that the main issue wrt electoral reform is compulsory voting; everything else isn't all that far from window dressing.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It is shameful to see *cough* certain types of political persuasion banking on low turnout from people unlikely to vote for *them*.

There was some hilarious whining along those lines from Tory local government types earlier this year because the General Election being on the same day as the locals meant that more proles voted in the latter than has become normal.

[Mercenary]

That makes no sense. If anything it is not voting that you have no right to complain since you did nothing to change things. If I vote X and Y wins, I have the right to complain. Or if X wins and does the exact opposite of what he said, I have the right to complain about them being a lying scumbag.

[Saxwsylvania]

No. It would do more harm than good. If someone isn't interested enough to vote in the first place, then they are most likely not educated on the candidates and the issues. People who vote just because they are forced to would either just vote on party lines, at random, or just based on some stupid rumor they heard from their neighbor or something. Nothing would be improved by this, so why waste people's time?

Lots of people who do vote to the exact same thing, so, again, hardly a valid argument. Always have, too. Now that is certainly something people have a right to do.

So your solution to uninformed people voting is to force more uninformed people to vote?  Also, it's interesting that you think that uninformed people have a 'right' to mark down random sh**t on the ballot, but these same people don't have the right to stay at home.

[Earth]

That makes no sense. If anything it is not voting that you have no right to complain since you did nothing to change things. If I vote X and Y wins, I have the right to complain. Or if X wins and does the exact opposite of what he said, I have the right to complain about them being a lying scumbag.

What a stupid argument. Newsflash, folks; we never lose the oppertunity to complain, regardless of voting.

If anything, you vote for candidate x, they win, then you keep your mouth shut, since you voted him into office. Even this is a bit too much to swallow, but certainly holds more weight than "na na na, I voted so only I can speak up."

Compulsory voting can f*ck off back to the myopic, and retarded mind from where it was born.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

That makes no sense. If anything it is not voting that you have no right to complain since you did nothing to change things. If I vote X and Y wins, I have the right to complain. Or if X wins and does the exact opposite of what he said, I have the right to complain about them being a lying scumbag.

So if one is against the system, he has no right to voice his opinions unless he wastes time voting in the system's own sham elections?

Makes sense.

[Free Palestine]

How about instead of forcing people to vote, we work towards informing potential voters, encouraging them to vote, and making voting more convenient?  For example, move election day to a weekend or make it a holiday, and have state and/or local governments distribute voter information guides to everyone.  Part of the problem is that sometimes people don't know there's an election, in the case of primaries, midterms, and local elections.

[Mechaman]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

[phk]

I feel a lot of people may cancel their voter registration if such a thing happened.

[Barnes]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

Uh, how is it hypocritical if you don't like any of the choices being offerred?

"Dissolve the government" is not an option found on the ballot.

[Barnes]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

Uh, how is it hypocritical if you don't like any of the choices being offerred?

"Dissolve the government" is not an option found on the ballot.

It's not hypocritical. That's why there should be some sort of "invalid" option. Then, people can at least see the number of people disgusted with the system. As it presently stands, you either vote or you stay at home. There is no real expression of dissatisfaction like you have, Libertas.

[Mechaman]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

Uh, how is it hypocritical if you don't like any of the choices being offerred?

"Dissolve the government" is not an option found on the ballot.

It's not hypocritical. That's why there should be some sort of "invalid" option. Then, people can at least see the number of people disgusted with the system. As it presently stands, you either vote or you stay at home. There is no real expression of dissatisfaction like you have, Libertas.

Well like I said, forcing people to show up to the polls in the first place seems kind of anti-democratic to me, even if they do get an out.
Just saying.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

Uh, how is it hypocritical if you don't like any of the choices being offerred?

"Dissolve the government" is not an option found on the ballot.

It's not hypocritical. That's why there should be some sort of "invalid" option. Then, people can at least see the number of people disgusted with the system. As it presently stands, you either vote or you stay at home. There is no real expression of dissatisfaction like you have, Libertas.

And what if people object to voting as a matter of principle? They don't have the right to complain about the results of voting?

[Free Palestine]

You should at least be required to show up at the polling place. Also, there should be an "Abstention" option on the ballot.

Come on Barnes!
It is kind of hypocritical to force people to show up to vote in supposedly "free" and "democratic" elections.

Well like I said, you don't have to vote. But being a lazy-ass and complaining about the system and then complaining about the people elected, even when you didn't care enough to vote, is kind of hypocritical.

Well then, what's the POINT in forcing people to show up at the polling place, if they're not required to vote?

[k-onmmunist]

No and any 'liberal' who says it should be is a massive hypocrite.

[Derek]

I'd leave the country if voting were mandatory too. We have the right to vote just as we have the right not to vote. Put a gun to my head and tell me I have to vote, go ahead. All that would do is ensure the democrats the house, senate, and white house for life.

[Edu]

Nah, i think it shouldn't be mandatory.

And this is coming from a guy who lives in a country with mandatory voting and voted in every election since turning 18, but i have been tempted a few times to skip elections, especially if the candidates suck, something that is quite often here (the Buenos Aires Mayoral election runoff of 2007 is a good example of this).
I like to think that in a country with free elections i should also be free to decide if i want to use that right or not.

It's not like we have 100% turnout here anyway. In basically every election there's about 20% of the electorate who doesn't vote, the fine is like 5 cents so some people don't really care (i think the last time my dad voted was in 1995 and for Carlos Menem ). Of course there are some bureaucratic disadvantages you might have, for instance if you lose your national identity document you will have a pretty tough time getting a new one (but it's all stuff like this, nothing really serious).
In fact considering how lax is the law and how generally crappy the candidates are I'm actually amazed that we have 80%+ of turnout

Of course here there are certain issues that probably make keeping the vote mandatory an arguably good idea.

[minionofmidas]

I feel a lot of people may cancel their voter registration if such a thing happened.

Well, non-automatic voter registration is certainly something that would go out of the window long before you'll actually introduce compulsory voting.

It's not like we have 100% turnout here anyway. In basically every election there's about 20% of the electorate who doesn't vote, the fine is like 5 cents so some people don't really care (...) In fact considering how lax is the law and how generally crappy the candidates are I'm actually amazed that we have 80%+ of turnout

You wouldn't without nominally mandatory voting (or at least the tradition of it). Count on it.